Chapter 40: 40. Her First Corrupted Manifestation

Unlying Tablet | HP : 2,000

 

These tablets were not mere objects. They were statless entities. Many had suddenly sprouted along the forest floor now, littering it like a sea of giant headstones. The texts each pulsated and sung a unique choir of confessions, matching exactly what was written across the tablet.

Even though the texts were arranged in characters completely unfamiliar to Frost; she could sense their meaning. The sensation was akin to a worm wriggling beneath her skin.

She kept her voice loud as she shouted and took down as many of these things along the way.

Thankfully, Jury arrived at the caravan first and slew the Screaming Gallery in only a single hit. The body dropped like a sack of flesh, unmoving with its teethless smile permanently affixed, as if still screaming after death.

“Everyone! Keep on shouting! Don’t stop!” Jury warned to the panic-driven masses. “Stay close to the caravan if you want to be protected!”

Her words had little effect on many of them. Frost watched this all unfold as she rapidly approached, seeing at least 10 people flee into the forest behind them and another 10 of the armed travelers suddenly pointing their weapons towards Jury for attacking one of their own.

Tch… pieces of shit! Nav! Tell Jury to destroy the tablets! Leave those people to me!

“I knew we shouldn’t have trusted you! You betrayed us! We let this Demon abomination to travel with us!” The lightly armored swordsman who had been walking alongside them exclaimed and was about to point his blade towards Jury’s throat.

However, the axe-wielding woman instantly deflected his attack and took a stance before Jury. It was not to protect her. Rather, it was to protect him from also being killed. Jury, noticing her kind display, quickly turned her attention towards the tablet and unleashed as many attacks as she could along its sturdy surface.

Jury did not say a single word to them, only nodding at Frost in the nearby distance.

There was a clash of voices that agreed to hurt Jury, and others that heavily protested. Furio had no say in the matter and instead closely watched Frost as she finally made it to the fray wielding a face that yearned to crush these ungrateful people.

“JURY! You only need to protect Via’s caravan and focus on the tablets! Everyone else – don’t stop running you mouth! The most silent is going to transform into one of those things!” Frost revealed, instantly silencing them just as Jury shattered the tablet. “And you – If you can’t even muster an ounce of thanks despite your uselessness, then don’t say a single fucking word!”

She inflicted scrutiny upon this entire group of 10 as she punched his blade with her bare hand and shattered it, proving her strength before their very eyes. She deeply understood that people didn’t want to die. But what she could never wrap her heart around was the notion of pinning the blame onto another when all hope seemed lost.

Frost nearly found herself wishing for their deaths, but she kept it together. If all else, these people will act as fodder for the transformations. Basically, a part of her had denoted them as a resource to gain precious time.

“Look at what we’re dealing with for a second! Do you see it!? The Corrupted up there!? The mass of walking flesh looming behind the fog!? Via! Jaris! All of you Patrons gather anyone capable of fighting to focus on the tablets with Jury! Octanids! Help them!” Frost recited a battle plan on the spot, gathering the attention of Via and Jaris who allowed themselves to be devoured by her all-consuming eyes.

“The tablets!? Are you sure!?” Jaris questioned her, desperate for answers as he quickly rallied those that could fight alongside the other Patrons.

“We don’t know what the tablets do, but I’d be an idiot to not at least suspect it has something to do with what happened to this man!” Frost did not need to explain in depth.

She just needed to expose the causality to them like it was a fact.

And it was not something anyone was capable of disproving either. Frost’s odd ability made them realize that she was not exactly a normal person. A healer capable of other magic and speed like her was unheard of and sparked some of their morale to return.

“G-Get ready everyone! Spread out and start attacking the tablets! [Water Sear]!” Via screamed, wielding her staff as she summoned a ball of blue liquid. This transformed into a spear made from water which was directed towards a distant Unlying Tablet.

“Go, go, go! DON’T STOP MOVING! Take as many potions as you need!” Another Patron relayed.

“No need for standardized party formations! Just keep the tablets down!”

“FIGHT! JUST FIGHT!”

“AND FURIO!” Frost suddenly turned to the red-armored man as shouting began to circulate the forest.

The cries, screams and roars of children, Adventurers, women, and a man who wished to see his daughter acted as the horrific ambience for this situation.

It was hardly inspirational.

“I know! You want my fire magic! Leave the oncoming masses to my flames! Finally, it’s about time someone recognized my worth! Bring the mana potions here!” He commanded. “And Frost… what the hell are you?”

Thankfully, the man saw this as an opportunity to showcase his power. His ego was big, but not in a terrible way. Frost was happy that she didn’t have to resort to eating him. Not that she would have in the first place… unless…

She didn’t want to think about it. Furthermore, she could only take abilities and stats from other beings. Skills only came from the Corrupted…

… As far as she could tell.

“You’ll find out soon enough. Just focus on opening fire.” Frost uttered before she gave chase to the Listening Bird.

As dust was thrust into the air; the man shielded his eyes and yelled one thing:

“What the hell does opening fire mean!?”

 

* * *

 

The plan was foolproof to the layman. But reality was different. There was no such thing as a perfect plan. Never against the Corrupted. Sustaining a scream was harder than it sounded, but to their surprise, no one had turned into another Screaming Gallery just yet.

However, they had lost 3 of the 8 Octanids. As creatures inherently incapable of speaking, they were the first to perish. It was unknown how the man was initially targeted over them. These Octanids did not become Screaming Gallies. Instead, their innards burst forth as a Screaming Gallery crawled out.

The biology of an Octanid was a nightmare in of itself. During adolescence a Novanid will feed it a strong, suitable being which would act as its innards until the day it dies. It was always debated whether the victim perished or persisted within an Octanid.

This confirmed that their victims lived, even if they were reduced to a slurry of red syrup.

These Screaming Galleries were a sight that instilled fear into the depths of their heart. Some were even petrified in the face of such an abomination.

And yet they had the audacity to call Jury one…

The tablets were taken down as soon as they arrived. Jury, having superior sight to these humans, relayed where these coagulated letters were going to land in advanced. It granted them enough time to slay them before anyone could be afflicted by its curse.

In the background of this chaos emerged the army of Screaming Galleries. They staggered forward like zombies, their combined screams easily drowning out the sound of metal striking stone. A massive, flaming column was fired into their ranks, easily incinerating many at once.

Furio made good work of them, blazing them down with torrents of flames. A supply of blue mana restoring potions were bundled right below his feet. He would take a swig of these low-grade potions every so often as he laid down his wrath.

The stench of charred flesh and fresh blood stung their nostrils. For now, the only thing they had to worry about were the Unlying Tablets and the effects of Sinless Repent, which was responsible for transforming people into the Screaming Gallery.

For Frost it was a matter of catching the Listening Bird.

It was fast. Too fast. Her 55 AGI was like a crawl compared to its 80 AGI. Not to mention it was able to fling itself up to tens of meters into the air and use the trees to springboard it from place to place.

She desperately needed to hit the second sate just to be given a chance to catch it. For the last 10 minutes she had been running around like a headless hen, running to the places she predicted seconds into the future.

However, what was the point of having this ability if she was too slow to even act upon it?

It was frustrating to say the least…

And her hunger was getting worse.

 

< “Ignoring them was the right choice.” >

< “Hello? May we read out your sins today?” >

< “Will you engrave these words into your skin like us?” >

 

These words were spoken by Nav, but they belonged to the heart of the Listening Bird. Frost did not know what they meant or what significance they posessed. But she could tell that it somehow related to the origins of the Corrupted… or rather, what the Corrupted itself was.

“Via’s story of her suffering… doesn’t this reflect them, Nav? The people who went around blaming others for things they never did? For sins that were written down like they were determined long before they were born!?” Frost said aloud, equating this Corrupted with this story.

No. It was no story. To call their trauma a story was an insult of the highest caliber.

This thing was a physical manifestation of those traumas, hence its designated Origin being Trauma. Seeing this now with her own two eyes confirmed that the Corrupted, at least for Trauma ones, were created by intense emotions.

It was only a theory from the start but now she could not see it as anything but the truth.

The affinity of Judgement also seemed to be what these emotions related to. And it was not hard to see why this thing’s affinity was Judgement either.

“Intense emotions that create the Corrupted. The truth…”

“No one can convince me otherwise!” Frost roared at the exact same time the Listening Bird attacked.

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< [Dismissed Confession] >

 

She was not hit by this insane urge to confess this time.

The most silent was.

A soundless scream came from yet another Octanid as she passed by the caravans again. Her hunger took rein over her body as she charged straight into the malfunctioning Octanid, which was being pummeled by the sharpened limbs of its fellow Anids.

A stone tablet had been erected behind their ranks and they were too late in destroying it before the next attack landed:

 

< [Sinless Repent] >

 

Frost seized this opportunity to eat. To gain something – anything that could help her out in this situation. The attacking Octanids instantly backed away upon sensing her presence as if they were in the headlights of an oncoming train.

Her bit into the plated armor of the Octanid and chewed on it like it was no more than jelly. She tried to avoid the innards like a plague, but that proved to be impossible as she inadvertently slurped it in utter torment.

She knew that these had… origins from a sapient being. Like a…

“DON’T SAY IT! DON’T THINK! JUST – EEAAAAAAT!” Frost needed to scream just to drown out the notion of these innards belonging to a human.

The Screaming Gallery formed before her very eyes; the blood clumping together like mushy clay before she quickly devoured it. As much as she tried to resist this urge, it proved to be impossible.

They were enemies to begin with. Therefore, they had to be eaten.

 

< Stats from the Screaming Gallery gained >

< Unique Ability Gained >

 

< ABILITY : The Voice of Our Hearts >

< Hear what all cannot >

 

It was… vile. Putrid, and caused her great torment… yet her stomach had no problem with it.

She suddenly felt something snap inside of her. Her heart anguished as emotions pumped through her ravaged heart.

“… What… kind of a monster… are you…?” She heard Jaris utter in disbelief.

He was nowhere close to her. In fact, he was located halfway across the battlefield. The constant yelling would have also made it impossible for her to hear. And yet she did. Not only his, but everything else with so much clarity that she could not spare a single thought to herself.

People uttered how afraid they were of her.

How she was undoubtably a monster.

But amongst them were the few that held their breaths and placed their faith in her. She recognized these voices and hunkered down on her resolve. If it weren’t for these voices, then she would have considered leaving these people for dead.

She did not think of herself as judgmental. However, it was hard to empathize with these people who could only bicker, blame and judge in the face of trouble.

Piece by piece, limb by limb, she devoured not only one Octanid but the other ones that had fallen prior without interruption of the other, living Octanids. They simply allowed it. And thus –

 

< Stats from the Octanid gained >

< Unique Ability Gained >

 

< ABILITY : Steel Thread >

< EFFECT : Create steel thread from the living >

 

– She gained its unique ability. To create steel thread from flesh like an Octanid.

Though this was not the highlight.

 

< The Will of the Amalgam has Reached the Second State >

< One Thousand Eyed Bird is the only Corrupted available >

 

< Borrowing the Active and Passive Skills of the One Thousand Eyed Bird >

 

Suddenly, the crimson-fogged forest was illuminated by the emphatic light of one thousand golden eyes, including the two on her face.

All her invisible eyes had come to her aid, and they banished all shadows with its righteous light.

“W-what is… happening…?”

“Is that… her doing?”

“Her hair it’s… it’s changing.”

“Are we saved…?”

“Frost… you can’t possibly be human. You – what exactly are you…?”

These were but a fraction of the voices that spilled from their parted lips.

Certain strands of Frost’s hair turned a pale white like that of Jury’s. While she did not look entirely different than usual, the aura she possessed was undoubtably stronger. It felt like a giant, invisible maw surrounded her at all times, ready to snap at anything that dared to come close.

The manifestation of the One Thousand Eyed Bird was not just merely borrowing its skills.

It meant to merge with it. To become an amalgamation of the Corrupted she had devoured.

This was the true power of the Will of the Amalgam.

 

< The Second State has manifested as the One Thousand Eyed Bird >

 

< ACTIVE:  Prejudice >

< ACTIVE: Biased Verdict >

< PASSIVE: Rightful Ignorance >

< PASSIVE: Fear of Retribution >

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